Asaram set to walk out after bail

Controversial self-styled godman and rapist Asaram is set to walk out of jail after the Rajasthan high court on Tuesday granted interim bail till March 31 to the convicted felon on medical grounds in a 2013 rape case, paving the way for him to step out of prison after 12 years.

- Dinesh Bothra

The order came a week after the Supreme Court granted the 83-year-old bail on medical grounds in a separate rape case registered in Gujarat in 2013, observing that he suffered from various ailments and needed treatment.

"In order to maintain parity, we are inclined to grant interim bail to the applicant up to March 31, 2025, for his medical treatment on the same conditions imposed by the Supreme Court," a high court bench of justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinit Kumar Mathur said in its order, considering that the nature of the plea was similar to the one filed in the top court.

In August 2013, a 16-year-old girl who was staying at Asaram's Jodhpur ashram alleged that he raped her on the pretext of exorcising her from evil spirits. He was convicted by a trial court in April 2018 and sentenced to life in prison.